Converting seawater into Fuel and Final Design.

The US Navy recently found a method to convert seawater into liquid hydrocarbon fuel. This breakthrough in technology enables us to open up the possibility of  building infrastructure on the sea. With that, buildings will have a seemingly, limitless amount of energy at their disposal. The infrastructures can also be eco-friendly they do not need to use conventional energy source which burns coal which then gives off carbon dioxide. This is very much an open possibility for the near future and we decided to use it to our advantage.

Our design plan will be to design a structure, not a skyscraper, for commercial usage only. We have a similar idea of that just that it is only for residential purposes but we find it tough to live everyday live on the sea with almost no nearby convenience stores or grocery stores.

With that, it has unmanned drones as transportation, we feel that if currently, mankind is developing drones like the MQ-9 Reaper for the US Air Force and other small but technologically advance drones, it is only a matter of times they start developing all those for transportation purposes.

With the shifting of most commercial buildings now on the sea, more land area will be opened up for residential spaces. With more area of land to build on, Living Spaces will be bigger and more big families can now live more comfortably and the prices of houses will also drop, leaving low-income and middle-income individuals or as a family, more options to find their perfect home.

Research upon Discovery 2: NORAD

GPS location of NORAD

Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker is an extensive underground complex used as a classified command center by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Built 60-stories into and under the Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs, Colorado in the United States of American, the NORAD base is one of the most sophisticated in the world. It consists of brilliantly planned out floor plans that enables the military to work around the clock without facing much difficulties.

The size of the complex is almost equivalent to the size of 5 football fields. Why homes cannot be build like this? Through the research and analysis of the NORAD's underground complex, they are working around the clock, doing classified operations and projects daily and still be able to work out. Homes can also be build like this, an extensive residential complex, topped up with some leisure and entertainment facilities such as maybe a sports hub or a good count, beneath the Earth's surface. This could be the solution to cities that is experiencing land constraints, living spaces would thus be expanded as underground cities can be constructed deep and wide thus giving more space.

Cheyenne Mountain 

Research upon Discovery 1 : Transforming Floor.

With the demand that keeps increasing but little supple is available. Living spaces is shrunk gradually. Limited spaces cause people to encounter difficulties to create spaces. A research was conducted from the Space Generator Transformable Platform by Maria Maliskaya and Grigory Malitsky who won A' Design Award & Competition, 2012-2013, to know how a space can be maximized and the usage to be multifunctional.

The Space Generator Transformable Platform use the system of high adjustable module jack plate that serves as cells. By adjusting the height of the cells with the theory of hydraulic, pneumatic and electric mean. It enables the flat platform to be transformed into three dimentional multi-arrangement level which can create different sectional designs such as square, triangular. circular, etc. The concept is to realize the virtual reality into visual or physical world in three-dimensional procedure.

Methods to collect and represent Data.

A mini class activity was arranged whereby we had to sit together as to group to discuss ways on how we can represent and collect data. This activity is to enhance our thought process when we are doing our brainstorming for our topic. Our group were handed 'Case Study' , we are required to list down methods on how to represent it.

What our group came up with in class.

We also studied the points that other groups has listed down. Some of them are quite interesting that we did not list down. 

Brainstorming and 101 ideas of solution.

An exercise to churn out solutions and answers to the report questions was conducted. 101 ideas was the required quota to reach within 45 minutes. Through various techniques like brainstorming and forced connections along with lateral thinking, the goal was reached. Since our lectures said we do no have to consider the amount of money that has to be put into this solutions, some insane and but legitimate ideas for the future were being brought up, such as living on other planets or creating an actually space residential-like infrastructure in space just like in the movie "Elysium".

Mindmap of 101 ideas.

Four ideas particularly stood out most from the mind map, which are:
1. Transformer House.
2. Underground Cities
3. Virtual Reality
4. Building on water bodies

With transformer house we wish to create a small house within or some sort of amenities packed into a small contraption that requires a push of a button to expand into something bigger.
Underground cities is inspired by how high we can build and how deep into the Earth's crust can we venture into. Maybe constructing cites underneath like an ants colony.
Virtual reality is inspired by Science Fiction novels and movies where our subconscious mind is transported into a world cut out for all our dreams and desires.
Building on water bodies is quite a straightforward idea but we reckoned it will be successful and possibility of having it in the future is high as technology and science develops at a rapid pace.

Survey

We conducted a survey so as to increase our knowledge and understanding of living spaces in Singapore. The problem will be analysed from a view of public understanding. Questions will be designed in a way that participants and reporters grasp the most out of the given problem.

               

Through the means of sharing the survey will spread to a wide audience of varying ages all combating the problems of shrinking living spaces. A comparison between current homes of Singaporeans to that of foreigners' can be drawn as the survey includes nationality specific questions.

Majority of the participants belong to youth and young adult category who experience responsibilities for the first time and managing money etc.They are the individuals that have small budgets and cut corners to find housing. Majority of them are either studying or starting out their careers and hence money is a major issue.

As can be seen the reasons for shrinking living spaces according to young adults and middle aged individuals varies from person to person. Depletion of building resources and faulty government policies aside most participants picked the same combination of answers.

Finally participants were asked about what they think advantages of living in a smaller house are. Evenly spread out, some said lesser maintenance, cheaper and affordable, cozy and comfortable. All in all participants realize the advantages.

Overall, the survey shed some light on what individuals think about the shrinkage of living spaces. Answers gave insight into the publics'  understanding of the said problem and suggestions were made to the cause. 

Case Study 2: HDB Apartments

Our Objective: According to the Housing and Development Board of Singapore, 82% of Singaporeans live in HDB flats, which is approximately 4.3 Million individuals. These HDB flats are generally situated near public facilities such as hawker centers, recreational centers and grocery stores it also costs lesser than privately built homes. With Singapore experiencing land constraints, the sizes of HDB flats has gone downwards over the years. A case study will be conducted to understand how drastically the size of HDBs has changed overs the past three decades.

Execution: A 30 year-old HDB will be compared to a newer HDB apartment and the differences will be closely studied.

Firstly, there are significant differences between the two living rooms particularly in terms of their sizes. This clearly shows that the sizes of old HDB flats when compared to a new one has gone down. This theory can be further backed up by with a statistical study on the flats. 

Conclusion: Over time, urbanization and development of the country to be more commericalize took up a huge amount of land in Singapore. By studying the change in HDB size over past decades, it is clear that factors such as overpopulation , land shortage have their impacts on living spaces that the people of  Singapore are experiencing.